Google News Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: I used to pray not to be in the same part of draw as Andy Murray
by DZEVAD MESIC | VIEW 5398
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga admits Andy Murray was one opponent he never wanted to face. Tsonga, a former world No 5, clashed against Murray 16 times during his career. In those 16 meetings, Tsonga managed to beat Murray just twice.
Tsonga claimed his first win over Murray when they met at the 2008 Australian Open, which was their second meeting. Tsonga's second win over Murray came at the Toronto Masters in 2014, when he ended up making it all the way.
"It's difficult to say who is the toughest opponent, but one who gave me a hard time was Andy Murray, he beat me so many times and it was difficult. Every time when I saw the draw I was praying to be in another part," Murray said on the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast.
Tsonga ended his pro career this year
Tsonga, 37, announced earlier this year he would be ending his career after the French Open. Recently, Tsonga revealed he felt "empty" in his first two months after retiring. "Tennis took up 100% of my time.
All of my time was dedicated to that and suddenly it's empty. There's nothing left, there's no longer the atmosphere, the hot stadiums. It's true that it was a bit hard the first 2 months, but now it's fine," Tsonga said. Tsonga never won a Grand Slam or became the world No 1, but still he enjoyed a long and successful career.
In the end, Tsonga was happy with his tennis journey. "All the journey was nice and good to live, even the difficult moments. I can't say one day is better than another. The more important was to live this with people around me and be able to share the happiness and the sadness," Tsonga reflected.
In what was the final match of his career, Tsonga suffered a four-set defeat to Casper Ruud in the French Open first round.